From Shadows
by NekrounRose
Summary: Nilla is going to Beacon in search of a new beginning. Here she hopes that she can make herself a better person. Maybe in the process she can even repay for her past... Unless her past comes to try and drag her back. Kicking and screaming if necessary.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Ya'll! I am attempting a FanFic. I have never really tried this and well... we'll see how it goes. I'm not going to promise regular updates or anything like that because I know that the chances of that actually happening are like... zero point two. Point two is me being generous because there is an off chance... but it's ridiculously tiny. So enjoy the story (Or don't. I can't force you...) and well... have a nice life or something... Let me know what you think. If you see something wrong feel free to point it out. If you don't want to review I can't force you to do that either... but I would appreciate it.**

 **I do not own RWBY or any characters thereof.**

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 _A glass, once shattered, is not easily put back together again.  
_

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A girl stared up at the towering bulk of the castle-like structure before her in awe. She was finally here, at Beacon. She had seen some impressive buildings in her life but _this_ trumped them all. Other students swarmed around her, heading toward the massive structure. She followed the crowd, though at a somewhat slower pace, taking time to examine her surroundings. The airship had dropped her at the end of a long walkway lined with lampposts. Decorative concrete barriers lined the sides and she eyed them approvingly. A large clock tower loomed over everything else, glowing as a beacon for all to see.

She was drawn, abruptly, from her musings when she was suddenly hug tackled from behind. Her arms pinned to her sides, the girl dropped one hand slowly towards her belt.

"Oh my gosh! Someone as tiny as me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the attacker squealed happily, unaware that she was panicking her target. Finally, the attacker let her go and stepped back allowing the girl to turn and face them. Her attacker turned out to be another girl, this one with black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore an odd, black shirt that reached down to her knees but had splits up the sides. She also wore bright red pants. The most noticeable feature though, was the pair of wolf ears on her head. "Heh, sorry. I don't normally tackle people like that, I've just never actually met someone even close to as short as me. Even if you're _still_ a little taller than me, you're close. And now I'm babbling… wow, this is an off day... Anyway, I'm Akane. Akane Nior."

"Nilla Tranche…" the girl said uncertainly, not quite sure what to make of this overly friendly girl.

"Nice to meet you, Nilla," Akane said, bouncing slightly, "I really am sorry about the whole tackle thing. Guess I'm just nervous. I mean, Beacon and all." She gestured towards the building in front of them as she started walking towards it again. Nilla fell in beside her, watching her suspiciously out of the corner of her eye. "Not every day that you get to start at the most famous academy on Remnant."

They walked on in silence for a little while, each of them taking in their surroundings, though Nilla seemed to be tenser than she had been before Akane joined her. She walked with her arms crossed over her chest rather than loose at her sides as they had been before. Akane glanced over at her, frowning slightly.

"You don't talk much do you?" she asked. Nilla shrugged in response, brown eyes still scanning their surroundings. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then." She fell silent again and they continued in that manner until they reached the Auditorium for the initiation speech. Once there, Akane turned to ask her silent companion a question only to find that she had vanished. She shrugged and plunged into the crowd, hoping to find a more talkative companion.

Nilla, on the other hand, had slid in along the wall until she reached a corner and stood watching the other students mingle and fill the room. She had been there for about half an hour when a soft cough from the stage captured her attention. Professor Ozpin, Beacon's headmaster, stood before the mic.

"I'll keep this brief," He said, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and, when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He walked off the stage and a blond huntress, Glynda Goodwitch, took his place at the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she informed the students, "Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready. You are dismissed."

 _Well, that was certainly brief,_ Nilla thought as she waited for the other students to flood out. She melded into the tail end of the swarm and followed them to the ballroom for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, so thank you awesome people who actually took the time to read and follow my story! All two of you! (Don't judge, I'm kinda surprised there are that many.) So you kinda made me feel super awesome (not in a conceited sorta way though, just like, crazy excited that someone actually liked what I wrote) so I decided I had to finish chapter two for ya'll. Not that I wasn't going to anyway, I just did it faster this way. And maybe skipped some sleep that I very much need... not that I would of slept anyway. (Insomnia sucks... :P )**

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 _The truest measure of strength comes from the things we choose not to do._

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Nilla stood on the small metal launchpad looking out at the Emerald Forest, her eyes scanning the trees. Akane stood next to her, bouncing with excitement and more students were coming and joining the line at the cliffs. Nilla was rather glad that she had managed to get the spot on the end.

"I'm so glad I found you again, Miss Tranche," Akane beamed and Nilla winced at the title. "It's so nice to have another tiny person about. Not that I don't like tall people, it just gets old being the only one. People are always making short jokes. And some of them are actually funny - the first time."

"I prefer Nilla," Nilla said quietly when the girl finally paused for breath.

"Huh?" Akane paused tilting her head, "Not big on formalities?"

"Formalities are fine, I just…" She shook her head while making a face, "Anything but that."

"So you don't like your last name?"

"I'm not overly fond of it."

"Not fond of your family associations?"

"It's not that," Nilla chuckled wryly, "It's more the actual translation of the name I don't like."

"So… What's it mean?" Akane pressed after a pause.

"If you don't know, you don't need to," Nilla assured her. Akane looked like she was about to say something more but the headmaster finally arrived, Goodwitch in tow, and began his speech.

"For years you have trained to become warriors," Ozpin began, "and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch smoothly stepped in, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors of the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"These teammates will be with you for the entirety of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin took back over, "so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

 _Odd method…_ Nilla thought to herself. Then she noticed Akane grinning at her. _Please no. Anyone but her._ It wasn't that she didn't like Akane. She just… She wasn't sure how many of the hug attacks she could make it through before she accidentally stabbed the girl. At least she hadn't done that today…

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die. You will be monitored," Nilla twitched slightly. It might have been a wince, but the movement was so slight it was impossible to tell. "and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions? Good. Now take your positions."

Nilla slid into a crouch mere seconds before she was launched into the air. A pair of small, black throwing knives appeared in her hands and she traces a line on their hilts with her thumbs before flipping them into a reverse grip. More knives slid out of the sleeves of her jacket and the wide cuffs of her gloves to latch onto the ones in her hands transforming them into a pair of daggers the length of her forearms. Then she waited. It wasn't easy to be patient while flying through the air at potentially lethal speeds but this wasn't the first time she'd done this sort of thing.

Before long she began to grow near to the treetops and she picked out one tree and started angling her body towards it. It loomed up in her vision, a little farther away than she would like. A blink, and she was back on target. Her knives flashed out and dug themselves into the bark of the tree and she spiraled down to the ground. Now to find a partner.

Forests weren't something Nilla was overly familiar with. She had been in them on occasion but, for the most part, her life hadn't given her many opportunities to visit such places. She crept along as quietly as she could, which was, admittedly, not anywhere near as quiet as she would have liked. She wasn't used to having twigs and leaves to crunch with every step. She spared them a brief glare before her eyes returned to scanning the forest. Her eyes seemed to pause on random points amongst the trees but a keen observer would notice a small camera at every point where her eyes stopped.

She walked on through the trees, heading north, for many long minutes before anything of interest happened. The first sign of anything was a loud crash followed by muffled cursing. Nilla angled her path towards the sound and discovered a tall, muscular boy attempting to pull his axe out of the back of a fallen Grimm before its companion had a chance to get to him. It didn't look like he would be successful. Nila dropped one of her long knives point first into the ground and pulled another throwing knife out of her jacket. In a heartbeat the knife was flying through the air and lodged itself in the Ursa's eye. Nilla reclaimed her long knife again and slid forward to slash it across the Ursa's throat, the other knife rising to deflect the Grim's claws.

The beast fell heavily to the ground just as the boy pulled his axe from the other's body. Nilla quietly removed her knife from the beast's eye, her booted foot pressing against its face for leverage, before she turned to face the boy. He wore a black tanktop with blank pants and dark blue boots that reminded her of ski boots. The outfit would have looked rather ordinary if it wasn't for the brilliant blue circles on his pants and boots. They were connected by a series of blue lines that appeared to be tubes. His belt appeared to be a larger version of the tubes and the buckle was a larger, oval version of the circles. The whole set up appeared to glow though Nilla thought that it may have just been the way it contrasted with the black. Everything else about him seemed fairly normal; short, light brown hair, pale blue eyes, and a plain, silver cross necklace. Even his axe looked normal.

"Thanks," He said, giving her a quick glance. _The strong, silent type, huh?_ Nilla thought, _I can live with that._

Nilla gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement. "Nilla Tranche," she said offering him her hand. He stepped forward to accept her hand and Nilla suddenly felt very small. He towered over her.

"Aero Yael." Aero shifted uncomfortably, "So, um, north?"

"North," Nilla agreed, gesturing for him to lead the way. He started forward, not even remotely quiet, and Nilla followed. Her eyes resumed their constant scanning though she seemed to watch her new partner almost as much as she did the trees.

Before long, they came into a clearing dominated by the remains of what may have once been a temple.

"Hmm…" Nilla hummed thoughtfully to herself, glancing back at the trees.

"Is something wrong?" Aero asked her, the first thing either of them had said since they started walking.

"No, I just fail to see any sign of the path Professor Ozpin mentioned." Aero gave her the barest hint of a smile and they continued on.

"Nilla!" an excited cry rang out from in front of them and Nilla braced herself for the tackle hug. It came. "You made it! I mean, I didn't expect you to die or anything… even though you don't seem to have any weapons…"

"What do you mean she doesn't…" Aero started to ask before trailing off, noticing that Nilla's knives had disappeared at some point during their journey. He frowned at her, he didn't see anywhere where they could be. Akane either didn't notice his confusion or didn't care.

"Oh! You must be her partner!" She spun to give him a hug as well. He gave Nilla a pleading look and she shrugged helplessly. "I'm Akane! It's a pleasure to meet you. I have a partner too." For the first time since Nilla had met her, Akane lost her smile for a moment, "She's over there."

A girl stepped around one of the ruined pillars of the temple. She had cotton candy pink hair that had been shaved off on the sides. Her dark brown dress looked like it had been ripped off at knee length though the boots she wore were good quality.

"What on Remnant could possibly be taking you so long?" she snarled at Akane, venom dripping from each word, "Did you get lost? It's like twenty feet in front of you, _wolf._ Or did you forget what you were doing?" Akane's smile returned but it wasn't a happy smile anymore. She looked feral. Nilla suddenly had a lot less trouble understanding what this girl was doing at Beacon.

"Well, Chloe, I am attempting to greet our fellow classmates. I'd say you should try it, but the effort of being friendly might hurt you and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Her tone made it clear she wouldn't mind too much if the Chloe _was_ in pain. She might even cause some herself.

"Fabulous," Chloe answered, the venom still present, "But I don't recall 'greeting' people to be anywhere in Ozpin's instructions."

"Well, It's a pleasure to meet you, anyway Miss Chloe, Akane," Aero cut in, clearly uncomfortable with the confrontation.

"That's Miss Daboia to you," Chloe sneered at him, "Now, who exactly are _you_?"

"A-Aero Yael," he seemed even more uncomfortable now that her attention was directed at him.

"That's fantastic." Sarcasm.

"Now, if you're done with your little temper tantrum, Miss _Daboia_ ," Nilla broke in, her voice tight with rage, "we have a job to finish." If looks could kill, hers would have. Chloe seemed taken aback when Nilla brushed past her into the temple. Nilla glanced around, noticing the chess pieces that sat on the pedestals with a slight frown. _Nobody notices a pawn,_ She thought. She grabbed the piece and held it up for Aero's approval. He gave a brief nod and she tucked the piece into a pouch on her belt.

Akane bounced up next to her and grabbed a piece at random, the white rook, and tucked it in her pocket. Her normal smile was back, leaving no trace of the feral one of a moment ago.

"There!" She sang out, "Objective complete."

"I don't want _that_ relic," Chloe said starting to reach for the white knight.

"That's because you aren't going to agree with anything I say," Akane said already walking away, "But Professor Ozpin said each pair was supposed to get only _one_ relic so you're stuck with the one I picked." Chloe's hand stopped reaching for the knight and she chased after Akane, spluttering angrily. Nilla chuckled softly to herself and followed after them, Aero falling in beside her.

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 **So, there you go awesome peoples! I hope you like it :) Sorry if you don't like long chapters (I do, so they might happen a lot) but I had fun. I hope it was worth your time. I'm trying to introduce Nilla's teammates one at a time so I can do the little quote things for each of them (I don't wanna do a whole trailer 'cuz it'd give too much away. I like my dramatic reveals, thank you very much. (If ya'll don't figure it out on me anyway... O.o )That, and I think the whole trailer things (in writing, not the actual trailers) are kinda cheesy. Especially since most of them are just pointless battles that have no plot significance. If I were to do them I would have to find some way to make them plot relevant and I don't really have a way to do that for some of my characters. Especially not without giving things away.) Anyway, I will cease my ramblings (and trailer rant (well... it wasn't exactly a rant... It was more like- (You were stopping, remember?) Oh... Right...) and let you return to your life (or whatever it is you do). I can't force you to review but, if you do, I will love you forever (In a completely platonic way. Like one loves cookies. (And this is coming from someone who is easily as bad as Ruby when it comes to cookies (If not worse))**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to those who reviewed! You are Amazing! So... I know I said I was gonna introduce the characters one at a time, but this chapter kinda forced me to introduce both of the other ones... (Maybe I should have thought that through a bit more... or well, too late now. The characters have decreed it and it's their lives.) So this chapter's quote will be for Ciara and next chapter will be for Marangal.**

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 _A mirror can only ever give one answer. What matters most is the question you choose to ask._

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 _"_ Akane Nior, Chloe Daboia, Arun Ario, and Phoenix Ehrhardt, the four of you retrieved the white rook pieces," Professor Ozpin announced, "From now on you will work together as Team Apricot(AAPC), led by Akane Nior." Nilla watched in amusement as Akane literally bounced with excitement. Chloe glares at the girl, as well as the only male member of the newly formed team, as though they offended her. Nilla suspected that was because they were both faunus.

"He made her a _leader?_ " Aero muttered to Nilla, sounding bemused.

"It fits her in an odd sort of way," Nilla murmured back. She glanced around at the other waiting pairs and wondered who would end up on a team with her and Aero.

A girl in red and gold stood with a tall girl in purple. The red girl looked annoyed about something and the purple one had her nose on the air. Next to them a boy in all grey chatted with a girl in blue and brown. A girl in a red cloak, Nilla couldn't see much else about her, was being forcefully hugged by a blond while... Nilla did a double take. Was that...? Yes, Weiss Schnee was standing next to the red cloaked girl, arms crossed and glare firmly in place.

Nilla was pulled from her musing as Goodwitch pointed towards her and Aero, gesturing them forward.

They walked up towards the stage, another pair joining them on the way. The girl smiled at them, seeming perfectly calm. She was dressed in almost all black. The only color she had was her brown shirt and the two dark stripes on each shoulder of her jacket, one blue and one purple. Her hair, her boots, even her eyes, were solid black. Her partner was a boy. He had black hair and violet eyes. Two strands of hair, dyed purple, framed his face. He wore a purple scarf, brown jacket, and violet pants. He had a pair of purple tonfa tucked through his belt.

"Ciara Lonàn, Marangal Abian, Nilla Tranche, and Aero Yael," Ozpin began again, "you four collected the black pawn pieces. From now on you will work together as Team Carmine (CAMN) led by Ciara Lonàn." Nilla breathed a silent sigh of relief the took the chance to study her new leader's reaction. Ciara smiled confidently at Ozpin. _Not cocky but confident,_ Nilla noted the difference with quiet approval. The small group walked off the stage together and joined team Apricot in the audience.

Akane ran up. "Oh my gosh! Nilla, your whole team is tiny!" She squeed, somehow keeping it quiet enough that it didn't disturb the ceremony and Ozpin continued his announcement with a team Mauve. She threw her arms around Nilla, Ciara, and Marangal, forcing them together. Nilla had no idea how the tiny girl managed that. "Look! This one's even tinier than me!" She released Marangal and Nilla to plant her small hands on Ciara's shoulders. Ciara was about an inch of two shorter than Akane and Akane started at her in awe. Marangal wasn't overly short, a couple inches taller than Nilla, but he still qualified.

"I thought you said you didn't normally attack people like this," Nilla reminded Akane.

"I don't to just _anyone_ ," Akane said rolling her eyes and releasing Ciara, "But these are your teammates, thus, friends of my friend."

Nilla frowned in confusion, but didn't answer. _Friends?_ She wondered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Akane, was it?" Ciara smiled at her, seeming to take the bounciness in stride.

"Yep! I'm Akane!"

"You said we were all tiny..." Marangal commented, looking up at Aero.

"Well, the majority of you are, so even though he's not it averages out so you're all tiny," Akane said. Nilla really wasn't following that logic. Apparently Ciara and Marangal were because they nodded in agreement.

They fell silent and returned their attention to the ceremony, just in time for the headmaster to bring it to an end. "… be an interesting year," he said.

Goodwitch gathered all the newly appointed team leaders together and gave them instructions for the coming year, including room assignments. Ciara then led Team CAMN to their dorm. Upon entering, Ciara threw her stuff on the nearest bed and turned to face her team.

"Alright Team Carmine!" She began, "It is time for us to begin our four year journey. In this journey we will need to rely on each other completely so let's begin with introductions! Names, I know the Professor already said them but I want to reiterate for memory's sake, and...weapon you use."

"Marangal," the boy grinned and pulled his tonfa from his belt, " I have my tonfa here. They're also pistols." He pushed the handle of one back and a trigger popped out and a barrel opened on the end. _And there's the cocky one_ , Nilla thought warily.

"Aero. I use my axe and dust."

"Oh, good. At least someone has dust."

"Nilla. Knives." She shrugged.

"That's it? Just knives? No dust or transformations?" Marangal asked. Nilla shrugged again.

"Can I see one of your knives?" Ciara asked politely. Nilla frowned for a moment before handing one over. The other three blinked at the way it seemed to appear in her hand. "They're throwing knives, huh?" Nilla gave a curt nod and held out a hand for it to be returned. Ciara complied and the small blade promptly vanished again.

"Where did the long ones go?" Aero asked her curiously. Nilla gave him a blank look. "The ones you had with the Ursa." She held up the knife again. The black metal duly reflected the light and was, very obviously, not very long. Her new teammates stared at her in confusion.

"Okay," Marangal commented, "Did the definition of long change when I wasn't paying attention or am I just missing something here?"

"I'm pretty sure we're all missing something," Ciara answered. Nilla sighed and flipped the knife into a reverse grip, her thumb tracing the same pattern it had during initiation. The blades slid from her sleeve and connected with the one in her hand. She held up the elongated blade for inspection. The others stared in surprise.

"So that's why the half sleeves…" Ciara mused.

"I admit, that's pretty cool," Marangal added, "How many of them things do you got?" Nilla shrugged giving him an indecipherable look. He held his hands up in mock surrender, "Okay then, we'll just go with 'lots.'"

"Well, I guess it's my turn then," Ciara said after a moment, "My name is Ciara and I use a sword." She grinned and pulled a metal contraption out from under the back of her admiral's style jacket. She clicked a button and it folded out into a dark metal sword. The metal looked black at a first glance but then it caught the light and showed a mix of dark blues and purples. "This is Redemption."

"No other forms?" Marangal quizzed her.

"Nope. I prefer close combat, it works better with my semblance."

"Which would be…?"

"You'll have to wait and see. It's… a bit difficult to describe." On that rather odd note they split up to set about rearranging their dorm. Nilla claimed the bed in the corner, which also happened to be next to the window. She quickly tucked the few belongings she had with her under the bed and sat down, back against the wall, to watch the others. Ciara had kept the bed next to the door, despite it leaving her sandwiched between Marangal and Aero. Marangal teased her for "abusing her leaderly privileges," but his easy smile ensured that no one took offence.

Slowly, the activity wound down and they began to prepare for bed. Nilla waited until the others were all settled before she quietly slipped from her spot and prepared herself as well. No one noticed her silent footsteps as she walked across the room to the bathroom and back.

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 **Yay! The team is complete! Next chapter I will introduce my favorite attendee of Beacon! (Nope, not gonna tell you which team he is on... or if he's on one...) So... I know I've been throwing these chapters out really fast. There are a couple of reasons for this; 1. I don't believe in having backup chapters (also part of the reason I refuse to set up an update schedule) because if it's written then I think it's only fair for ya'll to be able to read it. and 2. I've felt like writing a lot lately. I feel I need to mention this because in a few weeks I will be returning to both work and College and will not have quite so much time for this (another reason I refuse to set an update schedule) and I don't want to get your hopes up too much. Just a heads up. Review if you wanna' but I won't force you (not that I really could...)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Another chapter! So, my brother that I usually get to poof read these things before I post them is not currently here so there may be a few more errors than usual. If you see any, let me know. Also, the quote I put here for Marangal isn't the one I originally had. I'm not sure if I like this one better or not... I liked it when I changed it but now I'm not so sure...**

* * *

 _What you think is not what you believe._

* * *

Nilla woke up to discover that her legs were trapped in place.

"Ebony, get off," she grumbled groggily, attempting to dislodge the odd weight.

"Ebony, huh?" Ciara's voice broke through the remains of sleep and Nilla bolted upright, launching a small black form onto the floor. "I was wondering. I was also wondering why you didn't mention you had a cat. And why you snuck him in in the middle of the night." Ciara was sitting on the edge of her bed, Marangal finally having convinced her to switch to the one next to Nilla, her arms crossed. It had been a few days since the team had been formed and Nilla had come to recognize Ciara's no nonsense expression.

"I _don't_ have a cat." Nilla glared at the creature and he stared back, unblinking. "Ebony is just a nuisance that follows me everywhere." She flopped back down on her bed with a groan.

"Then how did he get on the room? How did he find you in the first place?" Ciara didn't sound happy. Nilla sighed.

"He does that. If you figure out how let me know."

"Do you have something against him?" Ciara asked cautiously.

"Yes," Nilla said shortly, "He follows me around and eats more than any creature that size has any right to."

"Okay then... If you don't like him then why did you name him?"

Nilla hesitated a moment, "Well after he survived the defenestration and still stuck around, I figured he earned it."

"Defen- You threw him out a window!" Ciara looked shocked.

"He deserved it," Nilla shrugged calmly.

"Why?"

"It's a long story..."

"You threw a cat out of a window, and that's all you have to say for yourself?" Ciara asked in disbelief.

"He was fine," Nilla waved her off, "His aura protected him."

"He has an aura?" Nilla nodded. "And you knew this _before_ you threw him out a window, right?" Nilla hesitated again.

"More like suspected, but it was a very strong suspicion. Like 98 percent sure."

"So there was a two percent chance he wouldn't have survived?" There was a dangerous tone to her voice now.

"No, he wouldn't have died either way. This way he just wasn't injured. I kinda figured he wouldn't be after..." She trailed off.

"After what?"

"Nevermind," Nilla muttered, "let's just say it wasn't fun and call it good."

"Okay then..." Ciara seemed lost, the first time that had happened in their week as a team.

Ebony jumped back onto the bed and bumped his head against Nilla's shoulder. She absently patted his head before climbing out of bed.

Ciara watched her go, confusion mounting. _Does she hate the cat or like it?_ She wondered. Ebony jumped up beside her and stared at her with dark blue eyes. He looked almost accusing but Ciara shook the thought away as ridiculous. She petted the cat for a moment then stood with a sigh.

She walked over to Marangal's sleeping form and attempted to shake him awake. When that didn't work, she grabbed the edge of his mattress and flipped it up until be slid off with a thump. Aero jolted awake at the sound, eyes wide. After figuring out what had happened, he began to make his preparations to start the day. Marangal sat up and began his daily complaints to Ciara. Apparently, he didn't like being flipped out if bed.

"If you would wake up on your own I wouldn't have to," Ciara's vicious smile suggested that she didn't see it as much of a burden.

"I might wake up on my own if you gave me a chance!"

"I did. You didn't wake up so I resorted to drastic measures."

"Ha! That's what I mean; they're drastic and unnecessary!"

"I'm willing to concede on the drastic, but I fail to see how it's unnecessary." Nilla sighed as she walked back out of the bathroom. This was quickly becoming the daily routine for their team.

Aero claimed the bathroom before Marangal could. Nilla noticed that Ciara was already dressed and frowned. Normally, Nilla was the first one up and she wondered what was different today.

"It's very unnecessary! There are-" he broke off suddenly and stared at Ebony, "is that a cat?"

"Yes. Apparently, he's 'not' Nilla's." She made air quotes around 'not.' Marangal spun to face Nilla.

"You have a cat. And you didn't tell us. Why?"

"Not mine. You can have him if you want him." Marangal looked thoughtfully down at Ebony. Ebony hissed at him and turned away.

"Ebony, be friendly," Nilla chided. The black cat seemed to sniff and stalk away from Marangal. He walked over to Nilla who ignored him and kept getting ready for the day.

"Did he just...?" Marangal seemed at a loss for words.

"He does that. Ignore him," Nilla muttered absently, giving her uniform jacket an annoyed tug.

"He did something kinda like that earlier too..." Ciara mused.

"Peculiar..."

"Apparently he has an aura too," Ciara informed him. Ebony gave Nilla a look that seemed to say 'this is all your fault.'

"You chose to come here," Nilla muttered to him and headed for the door. At the last second she spun and pointed at him. "Stay," she commanded before walking out. Ebony gave the door a curious sniff then went and curled up on Nilla's bed.

"I don't think I've heard her talk that much all week," Ciara noted.

"Yeah," Marangal agreed. Then, he realized it was almost time for class and he wasn't ready. He dashed for the bathroom and Ciara snickered at him.

"Come on, Aero. Let's go." Ciara gave the black cat one last glance before she shut the door behind her. A few moments later they heard the door slam shut and Marangal caught up to them at a run.

"Did you have to slam the door?"

"Of course. How else would I announce that my amazingness has entered the halls again?"

"Amazingness? Really?"

"Of course. How else can I be described?"

"Annoying."

"Hey!"

The banter followed them all the way down the halls and into the courtyard. Nilla was waiting there with a large group in front of the statue. Akane was standing next to her and, as usual, bouncing with excitement.

"Hi guys!" Akane greeted them as they walked up.

"Hey," Ciara returned. Aero gave her a hesitant smile and Marangal gave her a cocky grin that made Nilla roll her eyes.

"Isn't there supposed to be a professor here?" Marangal asked. This was the first time they had this particular class. It was set up so that they only had this class once a week.

"He'll be here," Akane reassured him.

"How do you know?" She struck a dramatic pose that would have been much more impressive had she not been five foot zero.

"Because I know everything, Marangal- I forgot your last name," she deflated back to her normal position.

"Really convincing on the all-knowing bit there," Ciara smirked.

"At least I try."

"You gotta give her that one," Marangal smirked.

"Attention students," a voice came from the statue. The looked up to discover that a man was standing on top of the statue. He had a black hair and a small beard. He wore a suit, like all the professors, and a black cowboy hat. His blue eyes stared out at the assembled students in a rather predatory manner. "I am Professor Nior. I will be attempting to teach you all the various arts of woodcraft that will be useful to you in your chosen life of huntsman and huntresses. This is why we are outside. To learn about the outdoors you must _go_ outdoors. Are there any questions?" His gaze swept over the students and a few of them shivered. No one raised a hand. "Good. Now let us begin."

"See, told you he'd be here." Akane grinned.

"All knowing indeed," Marangal grinned at her.

"Today we will begin with one of the most basic things for survival; how to build a fire." The class proceeded in this vein for the rest of the hour. Nilla and Akane both did rather well, having some degree of knowledge in the area already. Akane ended up helping Marangal and Aero, as well as Phoenix, one of her teammates. Ciara picked it up fairly quickly. Chloe, on the other hand, didn't really get it and refused help from anyone. Especially Akane.

If the professor noticed he didn't seem concerned. "That should be enough for today," he said as the hour drew to an end, "I would request that you practice this in your own time but I'm afraid we might end up with someone burning down the building. If you do decide to practice, use caution. Do _not_ use dust. We will go over methods for starting fires with dust at a later date and many can be dangerous if done improperly." His cold gaze swept over them one last time. "Class dismissed."

Akane led their little group out, skipping happily into the hall.

"Is it just me or is he a bit… creepy?" Marangal asked.

"He's not so bad," Akane grinned, spinning to face him and walking backwards.

"How do you know? Maybe he's being nice for the first day of school," Marangal countered.

"If that's him being nice, I don't want to see him angry," Ciara added.

"He's really not that bad…" Akane seemed very concerned by their reactions.

"How do you know?" Aero asked cautiously.

"Umm… Well, he's kinda my dad…" Akane answered hesitantly.

"He's what?" Marangal asked incredulously. He stared at the hyper girl as if trying to find some similarity between her and the chilly professor. "I'm not seeing it…"

"Explains how you got in here," Chloe sneered. Akane spun towards her as though she was about to yell at the girl but hesitated at the last moment. Instead she gave the pink haired girl an overly sweet smile.

"At least I'm not trying to ride on my daddy's reputation." Chloe opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Marangal.

"Look at the time! We should really be getting to class now."

"Combat class," Ciara added with a giant grin.

"Oh yeah! We're starting sparring today!" Akane bounced down the hall, argument forgotten. _Oh, That explains why Ciara was up early today,_ Nilla thought.

* * *

 **So... yeah. That was a thing. Professor Nior is based off of Oobleck's comment of a "textbook campfire" in the field trip episodes (I don't remember exactly which one...). Yeah... That's actually all I have to say.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this one took so long. I had some family things come up as well as school and work... :P**

* * *

They walked into Goodwitch's class and settled into their respective seats. Ciara looked as excited as Akane. Minus the bouncing. Akane had progressed past the bouncing and was instead shaking in her seat. They had switched to their combat uniforms before coming in.

"Are you okay?" Aero asked her softly.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Absolutely wonderful. Never been better." Aero drew back almost imperceptibly.

"Okay."

"I'm just excited. We getta spar! Aren't you excited?" She latched onto his arm and he seemed to be lost as to how to react.

"Of course we're excited," Ciara came to his rescue, "How could we not be excited?" Nilla gave her an odd look then resumed scanning the room.

"I don't know, but Aero and Nilla neither one look excited. Nill, will you tell me why you aren't excited? Aero won't." She released Aero to give Nilla a pleading look.

"You're babbling, I thought you said that you didn't normally do that either," Nilla answered.

"I told you it was an excitement thing. Why aren't you excited?" She jumped up and attempted to grab Nilla by the shoulders. Nilla swept her hands aside before she could make contact and found herself on her feet. Akane stumbled past her before she regained her balance. Nilla glanced at the others sheepishly.

"Sorry," She mumbled as she sat back down.

"So you are excited!" Akane concluded.

"I don't think that was excitement, Akane," Ciara cautioned, studying her teammate. She was the only one who had seen the brief flash of panic in Nilla's eyes when the smaller girl leapt for her. Nilla was avoiding looking at anyone, her eyes flicking around the room. "Why don't you sit back down before Goodwitch comes in."

"Okay," Akane deflated.

"Good morning class," Goodwitch's voice rang through the room, "If you paid any attention during Wednesday's lecture, you will know that today we will begin sparring. Remember that we will be following tournament style rules. If either combatant's aura level falls below the red the match can be called. Continuing to attack after the match is over will not be tolerated. Since this is the first day I will be assigning matches at random. Are there any questions?" Ciara's hand shot in the air.

"Yes Miss Lonàn?"

"What about team matches?"

"Team matches will follow tournament rules as well. However, we will not be having those today so we won't worry ourselves with that today. Anything else? No? Then let us begin. Our first match will be," She glanced at her scroll and two faces appeared up on the overhead screens, Aura meters below them, "Chloe Daboia against Russel Thrush. Please make your way down here."

She stepped back off the stage and Chloe strode through the stands to stand on the right side of the stage. Opposite her stood a green haired boy. He held a pair of matched daggers that appeared to have dust in them. Chloe sneered at him and pulled out a golden ball. She tossed the orb onto the air and caught it. Russel watched as it arced through the air and she smirked.

"Begin," Glynda's voice called out. Before the echoes had died Chloe lunged forward. She twisted the golden ball in her hands and it expanded, almost quadrupling in size. Now it was approximately the size of a volleyball. A chain and handle snaked out from it and she grabbed hold. Russel jumped back to dodge her first strike. Chloe caught his eyes as she swung again and he stood almost transfixed as she swung again. The gold ball smashed into his shoulder and her stumbled.

Russel shook his head like he was trying to focus but it didn't seem to help him much. Chloe bore down on him, whirling her ball and chain with terrifying force. Each blow knocked Russel's aura down dramatically. He tried to deflect the blows but he was uncoordinated. With every successful strike he became angrier, his attacks less coordinated. With a final slam his aura plunged into the red.

Goodwitch called the match and Chloe stalked away with a sneer plastered to her face. Russel stood and stumbled back towards the stands. He blinked his dazed eyes as though his mind was only now beginning to catch up with what had happened.

"Now," Goodwitch began again, "who knows where Mr. Thrush made his first mistake? Miss Rose?" She called on a girl wearing a bright red hood.

"He retreated from her first attack and gave her the advantage with her longer reach." She stated somewhat uncertainly.

"That's true but his first mistake was before that. Miss Daboia why don't you tell us?"

"He watched my weapon instead of me before the match."

"And why is that bad? Wouldn't it be a good idea to take note of an opponent's weapons?" A blond sitting by Miss Rose asked.

"Normally, yes," Goodwitch answered, "but rather than simply taking note, Mr. Thrush focused exclusively on her weapon. Which played into Miss Daboia's semblance. It allowed her to begin affecting his emotions and emotions can affect how a person fights. If he had also been observing her he may have noticed that he was playing into her hands. Now, next we will..." The combats continued. Marangal fought a girl from team Mauve. Aero fought the blond girl whose name turned out to be Yang. It... Didn't go well for him. Ciara dueled Weiss Schnee. That was actually a rather close match but the Schnee won.

Somewhere in the middle of the class a black cat had appeared next to Goodwitch. Marangal stared at it in surprise.

"Is that…?" He asked Nilla gesturing to the creature. She nodded silently.

"I thought you closed the door," Ciara muttered to him, noticing the cat as well.

"I did! You even made fun of me for it!"

"He does that…" Nilla muttered. Goodwitch began to pet the cat.

"How…?" Marangal stared in confusion.

"Don't think about it too much. It won't help," Nilla dismissed him.

Finally, it was Nilla's turn and she did not look excited about it. Her opponent was Arun, a lion faunus that was on Akane's team. She stood uncomfortably, examining her opponent. His golden brown ears poked out of dark brown hair. He held a pair of swords, one long and one short, with an easy familiarity. Nilla frowned and shot the audience an uncomfortable glance. Goodwitch announced the beginning of the match and Arun lept forward.

Nilla's long knives formed in her hands and she shifted into a combat stance, simultaneously stepping out of Arun's path. He stumbled past her, not finding the resistance he expected. She shifted so she was facing him again and waited.

Arun hesitated a moment before attacking her again. He swept the longer of his blades towards her midsection and she deflected it to the side. Nilla cast an uncertain glance towards the audience and shifted back into her stance. This continued for several minutes as Arun attacked and Nilla continued to just block. He continued to press her with strike after strike and he slowly pushed her towards the wall.

Then, with one last glance at the audience, Nilla switched to the offensive. She swept one of her blades towards Arun and when he raised his own to block the knife dissolved into its original throwing knives. The knives sprayed themselves across Arun's midsection, tearing a massive dent into his aura. While he was still blinking in shock Nilla lept forward and stabbed repeatedly him with the other blade, dropping his aura to the red.

Goodwitch stepped up and called the match as Nilla bowed to her opponent, gathered her scattered knives, and returned silently to her seat.

The last few minutes of class drew on with an awkward silence for teams AAPC and CAMN as they all stared at Nilla, who sat eyes twitching from place to place, body tense.

* * *

 **And there she is! (Don't know why the story is suddenly a she but whatever... I'm gonna blame German class...) Hope you enjoyed. If not kindly let me know why. Yeah.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so I know I said I wouldn't be posting consistently, but it still shouldn't have taken this long to post again... And I apologize for that. College and life have been evil and I have an annoying tendency to overwork myself so I don't know when I will post again. Also, I need to do a bit of work on the plot so it might be a bit of a wait. Sorry y'all. But for now, there's this one :) Enjoy. (Or hate it and leave me a review that tells me why you hate it so I can write better. In the future. Yeah.)**

* * *

"Okay, what on Remant was _that_?" Ciara asked, pulling Nilla to the side. The rest of their group followed silently.

Nilla shrugged and stared to the side, watching their classmates file past. Ebony pressed against her legs as though he was trying to comfort her.

"No, I want a real answer. I'm not really big on prying but it really looked like you were trying to kill Arun. Like you might have if there hadn't been an audience. I need to know, right now, if I can trust you or not." Ciara's glare could have melted steel.

"You can," Nilla finally met her eyes, "I know what I'm doing. I just… I don't like being in front of people." Her eyes shifted, rather pointedly, to the small group that surrounded them.

"Hey, You can trust us. We're your friends," Akane said, for once not bouncing and actually seaming calm. Nilla gave her an odd, calculating glance and said nothing.

"I still want to know how you did that," Arun piped up, "You could have let me look at least somewhat decent in my first combat here."

"She let you show off for the first half of the match," Marangal said teasingly.

"And then she finished me in less than ten seconds. Real confidence booster there."

"It's the first day. You're supposed to get your butt kicked," Akane said, her bounce restored.

"You're just saying that because you lost your match," Ciara teased. Nilla shifted uncomfortably. They were still surrounding her and she wasn't overly comfortable with that. Ciara noticed the movement and gave her a questioning look. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Nilla shook her head and glanced down at Ebony, "just… " she shrugged.

"Nilla," Ciara sighed, "I've seen stage fright before and that isn't what it looks like."

"Didn't say stage fright, said I don't like people," Nilla said glaring at Ciara.

"Shouldn't we be heading to lunch now? " Marangal asked after the awkward silence stretched out for a bit too long.

"Yes! Lunch!" Akane exclaimed. She spun on her heel and took off at a run. "Last one there get's to do all the laundry for a week!" She called over her shoulder.

"Hey! No head starts, that's not fair!" Marangal yelled as he took off after her.

Nilla slid past Ciara and ran lightly after them. Ciara gave a soft sigh and started walking down the hall after them. Arun and Phoenix dashed past her and she shook her head.

* * *

I walked into Professor Zimri's Art of Adaptation and settled into my standard seat in the back corner. My teammates walked in and settled into the seats around me. Marangal beside me, then Aero, then Ciara. Apparently, the others weren't overly happy about the tension between us. At least she wasn't glaring at me anymore. Her looks were more… speculative now. I didn't like that much either but it was an improvement.

Professor Zimri was standing in the middle of the stage, eyes closed and an odd smirk on her face. She is a tall woman in maybe her late twenties. She wears a bright blue overshirt that splits into two tails over a long green shirt. Black slacks pooled around her tennis shoes. Lavender hair hung down with a tendency to settle in front of her eyes. One hand rested on the top of a cane. She had a flair for the dramatic and an overabundance of cameras. They littered the walls with their blinking lights. I think the bird's eye on her cane is a camera as well. Pretty much the only possible blindspot was to climb under the desks. I suspected even that might not work.

I don't think anyone else even noticed these things but they made me very uncomfortable. I felt like I _should_ crawl under the desk to escape their sight. But I didn't; I was a Beacon student now, a huntress in training. I didn't need to hide anymore.

The clock ticked over to 1:30 and the lights flicked off, casting the room into shadows. I blinked as my eyes adjusted. Students gasped and cried out in alarm. The professor opened her eyes and looked up, white eyes seeming almost to glow in the dark.

"You are trapped in combat, backed against a wall," Her voice rang out and the room fell silent, "Your aura is almost gone. Your teammates lay, injured, unconscious, on the ground behind you. Your weapon, that companion that has saved your life more times than you can count, has shattered. Your enemies are descending on you. The outcome looks bleak." The lights flickered on and off again. "Rain churns the ground to mud, making footing questionable. Thunder booms ominously overhead. What can you do?" The question hangs in the air for a long minute. students shift uncomfortably in their seats. Flare for the dramatic indeed.

The lights come back on and Professor Zimri grins at the room. "The answer to this is actually quite simple. In fact, I'm sure many of you were thinking it. You fight." Not _necessarily_ what I was thinking, but we'll go with it. It's a very different answer than my old mentor would have given.

"But you have to do more than that. This class is about adapting to the situation. Weather, lack of weaponry, defending fallen comrades. In this room you will learn how to manipulate the situation to your advantage. Be prepared, for it will not be easy." So not exactly unarmed combat… but definitely interesting. "But before we get into that, there is one thing that I would like to point out." She spun and stared at me. Or… in my general direction. "What was the first thing you noticed upon entering my classroom, Nilla Tran-" She hesitated and blinked at me. "Does your last name mean…?" She trailed off in a fit of giggles. _Kill me now_ _._ "Oh my gosh, that's hilarious!" She burst out laughing.

My head thumped down against the desk. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. Under the desk was looking _really_ tempting now… _Please kill me._

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry," Zimri exclaimed through her laughter.

"Is this why you don't like your last name?" Akane whispered from the seat in front of me. I nodded miserably.

Zimri finally got her laughter under control. Mostly. "C-can I just call you Nilla?" she asked, her voice still shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Yes please," I said quietly. She nodded.

"Well then. Nilla, what was the first thing you noticed when you walked in this room?"

I hesitated. Did she mean me specifically or had she picked me at random?

"I know you saw them." She said mysteriously. Well, that answers that question.

"The cameras," I said, still slightly hesitant.

"Correct. Now many of you may notice their existence scattered around the room." Her eyes shifted towards Ciara. "You may even be tempted to mess with them. Don't."

"Why is she looking at me?" Ciara whispered.

"Students last year thought it would be _fun_ to tamper with them." Ciara gave a small "oh" of understanding. "They are my vision. If _any_ of you so much as touches them, there will be no mercy."

* * *

 **And there it is! Bit of a perspective shift as I've been doing a lot of 1st person for classes lately. Also, I originally planned to use a lot of different perspectives in this story. And I probably still will. This seemed like as good a time to start as any. Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review but obey the first law of HVZ and "Don't be a Dick."**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay... so I know I said it would be a while before I posted again... but two years is a lot longer than I anticipated... And I apologize. so if any of you are actually still reading this... here ya go. Have a couple new chapters. I didn't really want to do the scene that this is leading up to just yet (I wanted more teamness to happen first) but I couldn't get it to flow that way so... this is what the characters say happened and it's their lives so I can't really argue with them...**

* * *

"All right!" Ciara said loudly, drawing sleepy groans from Aero and Marangal, "Today is Saturday and we have the weekend off so we are going to do something as a team!" Nilla turned away from the window and braced for the worst.

"I vote we start by sleeping in 'as a team,'" Marangal murmured and pulled his blanket over his head.

"Considering half the team is already up," Ciara countered, "that isn't an option." Ebony shot her an accusing glance from where he was curled up on Nilla's bed. Nilla grinned at him.

"Ebony makes them outnumber us," she told Ciara. Ciara glanced at her quiet teammate in surprise. Aero slid quietly out of his bed and headed for the bathroom.

"He's a teammate now?"

Nilla shrugged, "Not like I can get rid of him."

"You could just admit you like him," Marangal said from under his blanket. Nilla stared into the cat's dark blue eyes thoughtfully.

"Nope," she said after a minute, "He's too…" she paused, thinking for a minute, "Ebony."

Marangal pulled the covers off his head, the urge to tease the girl overpowering his desire for sleep. "So you don't like him 'cause-"

"Anyway," Ciara interrupted, " I propose that we, the members of Team CAMN, go to Vale and… do whatever it is one does in Vale."

"You haven't been to Vale yet?" Marangal asked, sitting up.

"Nope," Ciara grinned at him, "but I intend to rectify that immediately. "

"Fine. Although," Marangal pointed at Ebony, "Shouldn't it be CAMNE?"

Ciara looked the cat over and shrugged. "Sure, why not? Now, up!" She stepped towards him threateningly and he lept out of bed, tripping over his blankets in the process. Nilla snickered quietly.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," Marangal muttered as he picked himself up off the floor. Nilla shrugged and turned back to the window.

Ciara glanced over at Aero's empty bed before turning to look at Nilla.

"What's out there?" She asked curiously. Nilla shrugged again.

"Everything."

"Wow, that was descriptive."

"But also nothing," Nilla frowned thoughtfully. Ciara blinked at her.

"Then what are you looking at?"

"Presumably the everything bit." Nilla glanced at Ciara and smirked.

"Do you enjoy being difficult or something?"

"Yes."

"So you're not going to tell me what you're looking at?"

"The moon, actually," Nilla said quietly, fiddling with her necklace, "It hasn't gone down yet." The silver of her necklace caught the light, emphasizing its jagged edge.

"Oh," Ciara frowned a bit, "Why is that important?"

"En mémoire," Nilla answered.

"And that means…?" Nilla just smiled sadly at her and turned away, walking back to her bed. "Right," Ciara sighed.

* * *

"Alright, Carmine! Let's move out!" Ciara said, placing her hand on the doorknob. Aero and Marangal started towards her but Nilla stayed seated on her bed, absently petting Ebony.

"Nilla? Come on," Marangal hesitated beside her.

"I will not be joining you," she said quietly. They all stared at her.

"Excuse me?" Ciara demanded.

Nilla hesitated a moment before pulling her scroll from her pocket and opening it. She tapped the screen a couple times and held it out to Ciara. The dark-haired girl claimed the device, eyes widening as she saw what was on it.

 _Miss Tranche,_

 _Report to Professor Ozpin's Office at 11:30 Saturday morning,_ the screen read.

"And why didn't you say anything earlier?" Ciara asked.

"I'll catch up with you afterwards," Nilla offered, shrugging and taking her scroll back. Ciara glared at her. "Ebony will go with you." The cat fixed her with an accusatory stare and she rolled her eyes. "If you buy him a fish." Ebony turned his now pleading stare to Marangal.

"Why's he looking at _me?_ " The boy demanded.

"He knows a sucker when he sees one," Nilla smirked. Ebony gave a pitiful mew.

"Fine," Marangal sighed, "I'll buy him a fish." The cat jumped up and waltzed up to Marangal, purring. Ciara raised an eyebrow at the boy and he shrugged. "Four out of five is better than three." Ciara sighed in resignation and opened the door, letting the others file out ahead of her.

"We'll see you later," she told Nilla. It was more of an order than a farewell.

The door swung closed behind her with a loud thump. Nilla looked down at the scroll in her hands and her calm smirk vanished, concern and worry clouding her face.


	8. Chapter 8

"Miss Tranche," Ozpin began as he settled into his chair, "Why did you choose to come to this school?"

"To become a huntress." Nilla stared up at him, her face carefully expressionless.

"And why do you want to be a huntress?"

She glanced down at the table, afraid he might see the truth in her eyes, "To make myself better."

"You're already a capable fighter. What are you hoping this school can teach you?"

"I- I'm no where near the level of a huntress, sir. Not just in combat but… in anything. I never went to a combat school or anything. I don't know much about aura or, well, anything. I know enough to survive but…" she closed her eyes and sighed quietly, "I want to be better. I want to be the best that I can be."

He watched her in silence, his face unreadable, as he took a sip from his coffee cup. Nilla shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden seat.

"A noble goal," he said as he placed the cup back on the table, "Where are you from, Miss Tranche?"

"Mistral, sir," Nilla frowned in confusion at the question.

"Then perhaps you can tell me why there is no trace of a you in Mistral."

A pause. "Sir?"

"There were inconsistencies in your transcript and we attempted to contact your guardian, Sylvia Rheia, to rectify them. Imagine my surprise when we were unable to contact her. Further research only earned us a death certificate. She had no dependents. Can you explain that to me?"

Nilla's face was pale. "I-" She stared at the desk, unsure of what to say.

"Perhaps we can start with a simpler question. What is your real name?"

Again, that hesitation. Longer this time. She stared down at her lap. "Elwin Chantrea," she said quietly. Her hands fidgeted with something in her lap for a moment before she noticed and the object disappeared again.

"And what would we find if we looked up that name?"

She swallowed and shrugged. "Probably a death certificate." The professor's calm facade didn't even crack.

"Like we did for your 'gaurdian'?"

"No, she-" Her hands slid into her lap and clenched into fists, knuckles turning white, "She's actually gone." Her voice got even quieter as she said it, her eyes lost in an unpleasant memory.

"Then why would we find one for you?"

"If you've been missing long enough they do that, don't they?" She glanced up at him for a moment, then back down.

"Yes, though it takes several years. How long have you been 'missing', Miss Chantrea?"

"Since…" She paused, thinking about it, "Since I was five or six."

The professor's eyebrows rose. "Yes, I suppose that would be long enough. So you ran away. Why?"

Another hesitation. "I- Have you ever been to a faunus orphanage Professor?"

"I can't say that I have."

"They're… less than pleasant. At least the one I was in was. One of the older girls was running and she offered me the chance to go with her. So I took it."

"And she was this Sylvia?" Nilla shook her head.

"No, we got separated not long after. I… I don't remember her name."

"I see." He looked her over thoughtfully and stood up. "Thank you, Elwin. You have been most helpful. Now, I need to fix your transcripts. If you would like to add anything else, let me know. And if you ever need anything, please, don't hesitate to ask."

"I would prefer to stay Nilla," The girl told him, voice barely a whisper.

"And why is that?" If she hadn't been staring at the table she may have noticed the small smile that flitted across his face.

"Elwin just doesn't… feel like me."

"Very well then. Have a good afternoon, Nilla."

* * *

 **So yeah. Not sure how well I captured Ozpin in this scene (another reason it took me so long to give in and post this). I kinda got the impression from the interview scene with Blake that he would try to do everything he could for a student even if their background was lass than spectacular. That's part of the basis for this story.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Look! Another chapter! I really like how this one came out too. Not at all how I was expecting it to, but that's what I love about writing. Sometimes the characters just take over.**

* * *

The waitress gave Marangal an odd look when he ordered a fish for the cat and Ciara had laughed behind her hand. Let her laugh, he would laugh when the cat started begging from her. She would give in as quick as he had. Maybe even quicker. There was something about the cat that that was just too… intelligent to be normal. It- Ebony, Marangal corrected himself, seemed to understand them. And he got Nilla to talk, so that was a plus.

The first few days had been annoyingly uncomfortable with her. She'd mostly just stared at him when he tried to bring her into the conversation. Now though… now she argued with the ca- _Ebony_. She'd even kind of smiled a couple times. She was pretty when she smiled. Not that she wasn't pretty when she didn't smile but… she seemed like she could use more smiles.

Ciara tapped absently against the table as she stared into space, and Marangal brought his attention back to the present.

"You know," he began, leaning forward conspiratorially. Ciara blinked and looked at him. "I couldn't help but notice that despite all the hype, you didn't use your semblance yesterday."

She smiled at him, "It wouldn't have done any good. It's mostly for show and Miss Schnee doesn't seem the type to be distracted by that."

"What? Is it an illusion or something?"

"No, it's real. Just… its most useful trait is the cold and the Ice Queen probably wouldn't have even noticed that."

Marangal smirked, "So your great and powerful semblance is actually useless."

"Not _useless_ , just limited. But extremely cool looking."

"I guess that counts for something." He nodded sagely to himself and petted the cat in his lap. Ebony purred and stretched.

"Glad to see you're getting along." Marangal jumped at the sudden voice beside him and turned to find Nilla looking down at the cat. Why was she always so quiet? Ebony looked at her and let out a particularly loud purr. The girl rolled her eyes and stepped behind him to sit beside the window. She turned in her chair and leaned back against the wall.

"You know the chair has a back, right?" Marangal asked her, quirking an eyebrow. She nodded and looked around the room. She seemed to do that a lot. Almost made _him_ feel twitchy to watch her.

"How'd you find us anyway?" Ciara asked.

"Asked Aero." Ciara and Marangal turned to look at their large teammate.

"And you didn't tell us?" Ciara demanded. Aero just shrugged, staring down at the table as his face started to turn red. Marangal felt a little bad about that so he leaned back in his chair.

"Anyway," he drawled as he stretched, "What did the great professor want you for?" Nilla tensed even more as the attention shifted to her. Well, oops.

"Nothing much," She muttered. Marangal couldn't help but glance at her hands, that had curled into fists. He decided not to comment.

"Nothing much? _Nothing much?_ " Ciara apparently hadn't made the same decision. She seemed to alternate between super chill and super uptight. Marangal wished he could blame it on her appointment as leader but he didn't think that was it. "The headmaster doesn't call students in for nothing much." She looked like she was trying to set the other girl on fire from across the table. In fact… her eyes kinda looked like a really dark version of fire right then, with purple and black instead of red and orange. Weird.

Nilla met that gaze without flinching. "Did it ever occur to you that it's none of your business?" This… wasn't going to end well. Some of the nearby customers and staff were starting to look at them. Not friendly looks.

"We're your team. Anything that affects you also affects us."

"Uh… guys," Marangal tried. Aero looked like he was trying to melt into the wall. The girls ignored them.

"My life is of no concern to you," Nilla snapped back. Marangal looked at the cat in his lap. Ebony hadn't even bothered to open his eyes.

"You are a member of _my_ team. Everything you do affects me." Marangal sighed and scooped up the cat, dropping him in the middle of the table.

Both girls blinked and turned to stare at him. Marangal pointed to Ciara, "Not the time," he shifted to point at Nilla, "Not the place." Nilla blinked and a bit of the color fled from her face as she noticed the people watching them. They hadn't exactly been quiet. Well, Nilla had but Marangal wasn't convinced she was actually _capable_ of being loud.

Ciara sighed and sat back down. "Why did you put the cat on the table?"

Marangal shrugged, "Worked, didn't it?"

A waitress stepped forward hesitantly. "If you could take the cat off the table," She said, blushing, "Your food should be here soon." Marangal flashed her a relieved smile.

* * *

 **And minus 50 happy points for team CAMNE. Their first team fight and they just** ** _have_** **to have it in the middle of a busy restaurant. Geeze people. Anyway... Please review. It would mean lots to me.**


	10. Chapter 10

The second the door closed behind them Ciara spun on Nilla. "Now, you will explain."

"It's none of your business."

"Everything that affects this team is my business."

Ebony looked up at Marangal and the boy shrugged. "You're on your own this time. They've gotta get it over with sooner or later."

"This doesn't affect anything."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I've already taken care of it."

"Have you now? And if something else comes up? What then? Are you just going to 'take care of it'?"

"Yes."

Ciara just stared at the other girl for a minute before she sighed. "You don't have to, you know." Nilla blinked and Marangal looked about as surprised. Ebony walked over and pressed himself against Nilla's leg.

"I… What?" Nilla asked, taking a step back towards the wall.

"You don't have to do everything yourself. We're a team now, we've got your back." Marangal stared at Nilla. Why did she look more scared now than when she was being yelled at?

"But we can't if you don't let us," Marangal found himself saying. Nilla's eyes narrowed as she glanced between them.

"It's none of your business," She snapped and turned towards the wall. Marangal reached towards her but she vanished. He blinked and stared at where she'd been standing before sighing.

"Well, that could have gone better," Marangal noted. Ciara glared at him and then sighed.

"Yeah, yeah it could." Marangal frowned and glanced down at where Ebony had been sitting but he was gone too.

* * *

Nilla sighed softly to herself as she sat on the roof. She fiddled with her necklace as she stared up at the broken moon. Ebony bumped his head lightly against her arm.

 _You chose to come here,_ his eyes seemed to say.

Nilla gave a soft snort. "You know it's not that simple, Eb. I want to be here. I just… I'm not like them."

 _You might be surprised._

She shook her head. "They barely even know me. Why would they trust me?" The words were barely a whisper.

 _Because they are your team now._

Nilla laughed dryly, "yes, because _that_ makes me a saint. Want instant purity? Just get a team!"

Ebony huffed. _Why_ don't _you trust them?_

"You know why. Don't act so high and mighty, little brat."

A glare. _I am Ebony Rajani,_ not _brat._

This is what happens when you name a creature. It starts to think it's better than everyone else. Not that _she_ had named him.

She looked back up at the moon. They shouldn't trust her. She was a criminal. A lying, sneaking _criminal._ And maybe that was all she'd ever be. But… Maybe she could be something else.

Ozpin hadn't even asked her why she'd changed her name. Why she'd lied. Did that mean he trusted her too? He had even less reason then her teammates. He knew she'd lied on her transcripts.

And yet… he hadn't kicked her out. Why? And how would her teammates react if they knew?

She sighed and stood up. Sitting here wouldn't help any and she'd need rest before class in the morning. It still felt weird to be awake during the daylight. She shook her head. She shouldn't worry about that.

She walked slowly through the quiet halls of Beacon. It felt more welcoming to her now, more familiar, with it's long empty corridors. She almost didn't want to leave them. The dark wrapped around her like and old friend and her footsteps made no sound as she walked. Ebony trotted silently at her heels. Just like always.

She paused outside the door for a moment before reluctantly swinging it open. Ciara was sitting silently on her bed staring at the door. A book lay open in her lap but the lights were off so Nilla doubted she'd been doing much reading. She nodded silently to Nilla and closed the book. Nilla tensed but she just moved the book onto her desk and lay down, pulling the covers over herself.

* * *

 **And voila, another chapter for you lovely peoples. Please let me know what you thought.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Another new perspective for Ya'll. A really fun one to write, too. :)**

* * *

I survey my sleeping prey, poised to pounce. The problem is, which one should I attack first?

Chloe is out because… well, _Chloe_. Besides she's too scrawny to make good prey. Arun would make a good target but… Momma says you shouldn't attack guys in their sleep. It's not ladylike or something. Also, it always makes Papa grouchy. That leaves Phoenix.

I can feel the grin spreading across my face. A perfect target.

I creep around to the side of her bed, tense my muscles, and… leap!

A shrill scream echoes through the halls of Beacon. Phoenix jolts upright, sending me sliding to the floor. I land with a soft thump and sit, cackling madly.

All three of my teammates sit up in alarm and stare at me. Disbelief is etched onto each face. So worth it. You'd think they'd be getting over that by now. Ah well.

"Akane," Arun begins slowly, "why did you attack Phoenix?"

"It's time to get up," I bounce to my feet and grin at him.

"It's the weekend!" Chloe growls at me. She'd make a good wolf, pity her family hates the faunus so much. "We're allowed to sleep in!"

"Nope!" I grin at her, "It's adventure time!"

"What?" They all stare at me in disbelief. And we're back to square one. Come on people, we were making progress.

"Adventure! You know, going out and having fun? Experiencing new things?" Nope they're not getting it. "Come on ya'll! We gotta do stuff!" Still no reaction. Arun at least looks like he might be processing some of this.

"Then go do things," Chloe snaps, "just let us sleep." She flops back down and closes her eyes.

"I said _we_ need to do things. As a team," My voice comes out cold. Chloe opens her eyes and glares at me.

"Can it at least wait until a more reasonable hour?"

"It's almost eleven," I deadpan. She sighs and slowly gets up, grabs one of her ripped dresses, and heads for the bathroom. I frown after her. _I wonder what's up with the ripped dresses. It's not like her family can't afford better…_

I shrug and turn to Arun. He holds his hands up placatingly and swings his legs over the side of the bed. Phoenix is already up.

I hear footsteps in the hallway and they seem to be headed for our door. Rather quickly too. I spin around and open the door. Ciara stands there with one hand raised to knock and a sword in her other hand. Her teammates stand behind her, also armed. Except for Nilla. Why did she never seem to be armed? Maybe it was her semblance!

"Ciara! Nilla! What's up? Oh, wait weapons! You're going sparring! Can we join you? That would be so much fun!"

"I call not Nilla!" Arun calls from his closet.

"Um, no…" Ciara glances past me at the room. "We heard someone scream and we thought it came from here.

"Oh, that was just Pheonix." I grin at them.

"Okay… Why was she screaming?" The purple boy asked, though Ciara was already putting her sword away. It folded up surprisingly well. Still not as cool as Bite, but nothing was.

"'Cause I woke her up." Man, this guy was dense.

"I begin to understand why you two get along," he muttered to Ciara. Whatever that meant.

"So… does that mean no sparring?" I asked.

"We were actually planning on going to vale today. Our visit yesterday was… cut short." Ciara glanced at Nilla as she said it and the other girl pointedly ignored her. Well that was new. Wait. What is that? Is it…? Oh my gosh, it is!

"Kitty!" I squeed, diving for the small black creature. He puffed up and hissed so I plopped down to sit in front of him instead of tackling him. Kitties are dangerous despite their adorableness. "Hi Kitty."

"His name is Ebony," Nilla said quietly,looking down at me. She was smiling! It was a tiny smile but Nilla never smiled. I grinned.

"Hello Ebony." The cat slowly stretched forward to sniff me and I waited until her sneezed to pet him. I hate waiting, but kitties are so soft and fuzzy and it was totally worth it. Plus kitties are warm.

"So… Did you want to come with us?" Ciara asked as she stood up. Wait… how'd she get on the floor? Oh… She'd been in the doorway. Oops.

"Can I cuddle the kitty more?"

Ciara shrugged so I looked at Nilla. She shrugged too. "Ask him, not me."

I looked at the cat and tilted my head. He stared back at me with dark blue eyes. How does one ask a cat something? Did I need to meow at him? But what if I accidently said something offensive? That would be horrible and I might never even know and nothing would ever be good again and he would never forgive me and there would never be any kitty cuddles again!

His head bobbed slightly and I blinked. "He nodded. He totally just nodded." I stared at him.

"Guess that's settled then," Ciara said. I looked up at her. What?

Arun poked his head out of the room, "Is Akane seeing things now?" He grinned at me.

"No, he does that," Nilla answered, frowning down at the cat.

"Oh. Alright then." Arun shrugged and stepped out of the room. "Do we have a plan for what we're doing in Vale?"

"Whatever we find?" Marangal answered, "Does that count as a plan?"

Arun shrugged. "Good enough for me."

Chloe strolled out to join us. Seriously, what is with those dresses? "At least if you're coming there might be some hope for today after all."

* * *

 **And cue dramatic music. Heh, sorry. Please Review.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Ooh! What about that?" Akane asked, pointing towards a large building proudly proclaiming that it contained a rollerblading rink. There seemed to be quite a few people around it.

"How about no?" Chloe countered, rolling her eyes.

"And what would you suggest?" Ciara asked, "We can't keep walking around the city forever."

"Breakfast?" Marangal offered, "We seem to have skipped that." I shifted so my back was to a nearby building and glanced around the street. I thought I saw a familiar flash of color for a moment but it was gone before I could focus on it. Hopefully I was wrong but...

Ebony immediately gave a pitiful mew in agreement and I rolled my eyes. The spoiled thing wasn't even walking, Akane was _carrying_ him. It kept her from hugging anyone so I'm not going to complain.

"I think there's a mall near here. We could get something there," Arun offered.

"A mall?" Chloe snorted, "Don't you think that's a little…" She trailed off as Ciara cocked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"I just find it odd that someone who's clothes look like they come from a trash can would be concerned about how classy a place is." Ciara explained. Somehow she managed to come across as curious rather than insulting. She was good at that.

"Fancy trash can," I muttered before I could stop myself. I froze as they all turned to stare at me.

"And what do you know of fashion?" Chloe gave my outfit a pointed once over. I rolled my eyes.

"Just because I don't play the game doesn't mean I don't know the rules."

"So," Marangal asked cautiously, "How are her ripped dresses fancy? No offence, or anything." he added to Chloe. She just sniffed in disdain.

"They're good brands," I explained reluctantly. "Worth a lot." I glanced down at my feet but of course the little traitor wasn't there. He was being _cuddled._ Little monster.

"Oh... " Marangal looked back at Chloe's dress, "How can you tell."

Thankfully Chloe saved me from answering anymore questions. Unfortunately, she was eyeing me with an interest I didn't particularly want. "Obviously _you_ can't. It takes a certain level of sophistication that you clearly lack. Nilla here," Chloe began and I risked a pleading glance at Ebony. He pulled through.

A loud yowl interrupted her and everyone spun towards Akane who was staring down at the creature in shock. Perhaps I could forgive him his treachery. This time.

"What did you do to that thing?" Chloe demanded.

"Nothing, he just…" Akane gave Ebony a helpless look.

"He does that," I assured her, "Especially when you mention food without giving him any."

"Oh… So he's just hungry?" Akane asked, relaxing. I resisted the urge to smile at her obvious relief and glanced up at the sky. The moon wasn't still there.

"He's always hungry."

* * *

"So is this technically breakfast or lunch?" Marangal asked with a glance at his scroll.

"Brunch?" Akane offered.

"Well, that doesn't really help much," Marangal noted.

"Help what?" Arun asked, curiously.

"I was trying to figure out what sort of place we should be looking for, but you basically just said either way works."

"I don't know," Phoenix offered, " I would think for brunch we should try to find one with both options available. I think that place would work." She pointed a a place with a sign proudly declaring the presence of pancakes.

"'Chimera's Roost,' sounds… interesting," Marangal noted. "Think they have good steak?"

"Only one way to find out," Ciara declared and started leading the group forward. Chloe lingered until she was beside me.

"So, Nilla, where are you from?" I sighed. Twice in as many days. Best to just let this one drop. Marangal glanced back and us and cocked his head. I waited for Chloe to give up and go in before I followed. That is one person that I definitely never want to have behind me.

* * *

 **Long time no see :) been working on other stuff but it's nice to come back to this. Might even have another chapter soon. :) Let me know what you think**


	13. Chapter 13

We settled into the table and I ordered myself a big stack of pancakes. And some eggs, can never go wrong with eggs. Unless they're spoiled, then it's super easy, but that's a different story. The important thing here is that I was finally going to get some food.

That, and Ebony had decided to beg food from Arun instead of me. Maybe he thought the lion faunus would pick better since there wasn't any fish on the menu here. Akane seemed disappointed that he'd left her.

Nilla was making herself comfortable by the wall, well relatively comfortable. She seemed to be trying to decide if the waitress was planning to kill us. I'd noticed that Chloe had pointedly put some distance between the two of them when she came back in. Guess she hadn't got the answers she wanted. I smiled at that. I could have warned her that trying was pointless but, well, it was more fun to watch her squirm. She wouldn't have listened anyway.

Nilla tensed suddenly and I glanced over, expecting the waitress coming with our food. Instead, there was a girl sauntering towards our table. She had lavender eyes and coral hair just shy of shoulder length. She wore a faded pink vest over a black shirt but the most noticeable thing was the smile that said this girl was trouble. That and the lollipop she was casually twirling between her fingers.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could maybe help me with something?" She asked. She smiled at me for a moment before flicking her gaze around the table. Nilla looked like she was about to turn to stone but the girl didn't act like she knew her. "I'm new around here and I seem to be a bit lost…" She popped the lollipop into her mouth and grinned around it.

Ebony hissed softly and I glanced down at him in surprise. He hadn't done that to anyone yesterday. He met my eyes for a moment then looked back at the girl. Weird cat.

"Sorry," Ciara smiled apologetically, "We're pretty new ourselves. Where are you trying to get? "

"Oh, just somewhere a friend recommended. It was called 'A Simple Wok' or something. Heard of it?" The girl smiled. Nilla narrowed her eyes at her. Either everyone else was ignoring Nilla or they hadn't noticed.

"No, I don't think so," Ciara frowned and glanced around the table. A couple others shook their heads.

The girl sighed. "Ah, well, it was too much to hope for anyway." She offered her hand to Ciara and our leader readily accepted. As the girl stepped away Nilla stood up and grabbed her wrist. Ciara blinked at her, leaning away in surprise.

"Nilla, what are you doing?" She demanded.

"Give it back," Nilla told the girl quietly.

"Nilla, was it now?" The girl smirked confidently, "What is it you want me to-" She cut off as Ebony stepped out from underneath the table and hissed at her. "Tch," Her lip curled into a sneer and she pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Nilla. Nilla dropped her arm and the girl turned and swaggered away.

"What was that about?" Ciara demanded of Nilla. Nilla kept watching the girl walk away as she handed the retrieved object to Ciara. Ciara stared at the thing, looking shocked. I tried to lean over so I could see what it was but Nilla was in the way.

"Is that your… wallet?" Arun asked, sounding shocked. Oh, that would do it.

"Yeah…" Ciara kept staring at it. I glanced at Nilla. She looked rather impressive standing there with her arms crossed, despite her lack of height. She looked… angry. Even more so than any of her little spats with Ciara.

"How did you know?" I asked her and she turned to look at me, blinking like she'd forgotten I was there. An impressive feat, that. "That she had it, I mean?"

"If she'd wanted directions she could of asked any of the people outside. Asking about a food place inside another food place is just rude." I frowned. Nilla didn't usually seem to care much about rude. And she'd tensed up before the girl had said anything.

"Huh." Nilla cocked her head slightly, her pretty brown eyes weighing me like she was trying to read my mind. If she hadn't done the whole disappearing-through-the-wall thing yesterday I might have to wonder if that was her semblance. She seemed to be able to read Ebony's mind. I smiled at her. "That was cool. Good to know you're looking out for us." I couldn't help it, I winked.

She rolled her eyes and walked back around the table.

* * *

 **Two chapters in a row! look at me go! let me know what you think :) Been waiting to introduce this character for quite a while.**


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